Schumer says Democrats will force reading of 940-page megabill on Senate floor
Source: msn/Reuters
58m
(Reuters) -U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Saturday said Democrats will force the Republicans' 940-page tax and spending bill to be read out loud in full on the Senate floor.
"Republicans won't tell America what's in the bill. So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor," Schumer said in a post on X. "We will be here all night if that's what it takes to read it."
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick JonesEditing by Humeyra Pamuk)
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/schumer-says-democrats-will-force-reading-of-940-page-megabill-on-senate-floor/ar-AA1HBKUI
Short article at post time.
Link to tweet
@SenSchumer
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BREAKING: I will object to Republicans moving forward on their Big, Ugly Bill without reading it on the Senate floor
Republicans wont tell America whats in the bill
So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor
We will be here all night if thats what it takes to read it.
4:32 PM · Jun 28, 2025
As was noted in a Politico "live updates", the GOP forced the reading of Biden's Infrastructure Bill on the floor before the vote.

senseandsensibility
(22,692 posts)It's not over til it's over as a wise man once said.
orangecrush
(25,344 posts)
Bluetus
(1,219 posts)And in the event that it still passes, we will have lots of footage to play back at the mid-terms:
"Your Senator voted for this ..."
The polling on this says the American people get it and are strongly opposed, so this doesn't go away once the ink dries. We can pound this issue hard every day. Make the Republicans pay a price for it.
cadoman
(1,395 posts)Bengus81
(8,937 posts)or stream it on their platform or did the NAZI in charge threaten them?
Fiendish Thingy
(19,805 posts)HarryM
(395 posts)I dunno
mcar
(44,841 posts)Mark.b2
(571 posts)And it should be required to be read during business hours. No middle of the night on a Saturday!
Great job Senator Schumer!!
forgotmylogin
(7,900 posts)A lot of the stuff cut were things nobody realized were in there.
paleotn
(20,561 posts)cadoman
(1,395 posts)It'd force the power brokers to do simpler bills and I hate seeing my representative vote on things they haven't read. It's absolutely insane.
We don't even know who are the authors of nearly all our legislation.
Mark.b2
(571 posts)We need to get away from big bills, especially onmibus bills that are 498 pages long that touch on 87 different topics. Id get away from poison pills where extra-controversial legislation is lumped into widely supported items to pressure legislators into supprting bills they dont really like.
Its a cynical way to get things done and smacks of bad faith.
Id much rather see votes on 62 3-page bills that voters can comprehend!
paleotn
(20,561 posts)Instead of telling Congress critters what they want, they just write the legislation themselves. Much more efficient that way.
dem4decades
(12,922 posts)OrlandoDem2
(2,974 posts)Buddyzbuddy
(1,114 posts)EarthFirst
(3,703 posts)this should be standard practice.
patphil
(8,028 posts)It's still a budget reconciliation bill that has a lot that isn't about budget, and should be removed.
My expectations in that regard aren't very high.
orangecrush
(25,344 posts)
BumRushDaShow
(155,467 posts)Senate aides estimate reading the 940-page bill could take about 15 hours. When Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) forced the reading of Democrats 628-page American Rescue Act in 2021, it took 10 hours and 44 minutes. (Johnson said he bought the clerks a case of wine afterward.)
(snip)
It delays the vote.
Since we are in the minority in the House and Senate, we have few if any options or control mechanisms.
ShazzieB
(21,032 posts)Everybody complains that Democrats "don't do anything," but when they ro something, it's treated as meaningless?
ALl righty then.
murielm99
(32,078 posts)mcar
(44,841 posts)Evolve Dammit
(20,918 posts)ancianita
(40,790 posts)Congress is The Peoples first branch of government.
2. All the more important because, if/when it becomes law, it will harm millions of The People.
3. And to establish in the record who introduced the bill.
MichMan
(15,304 posts)ancianita
(40,790 posts)seemed to be the implication that reading it aloud probably means it won't get much of an audience, and/or not mean much.
Sure, what you say is true. That bills are part of the Congressional Record should still be pointed out, and so should the fact of oral readings of them are also part of that record.
Reading bill aloud isn't political theater. It addresses the intended audience of millions they represent who can't be in the room.
When controversial, poorly written, harmful (and otherwise shady) budget bills contain harmful insertions, it's smart to communicate those bills not just in writing but in spoken word so it's conveyed in different mediums (media) so millions can "get it" in contrast to lies the felon leader/RW media has said about it.
Figarosmom
(6,529 posts)Going to watch them read it on the Senate floor and the media isn't going too either.
I hope the Dems were working on at least 4 Repubs to get them to vote no. But we can't seem to count on that anymore. Schumer has basically given up doing anything that requires skill.
Karasu
(1,498 posts)their jobs as well--something they seem to have pretty much given up on as of January.
HariSeldon
(523 posts)But I would be totally supportive of streaming the C-SPAN audio feed of the reading into an AI, and asking if to produce a summary of the bill and the impacts it would have on Americans.
ShazzieB
(21,032 posts)To all the defeatist out there, this is NOT nothing!
Cha
(312,495 posts)TY, BRDS!
AllaN01Bear
(25,970 posts)BumRushDaShow
(155,467 posts)not unlike what Corey Booker did with his 25+ hour speech - "taking over the floor".
AllaN01Bear
(25,970 posts)Karasu
(1,498 posts)what little power we do still have in Congress to put the fascists on the defensive for a bit and force them to own their own shit. Hopefully this will make people more aware of insane provisions like the AI regulation ban that--for some fucking reason--the parliamentarian actually allowed them to still keep in the damn bill.
orleans
(36,178 posts)and i don't get cspan
BumRushDaShow
(155,467 posts)Last edited Sun Jun 29, 2025, 05:57 AM - Edit history (1)

(the Senate proceedings are normally on CSPAN2 with CSPAN doing the House)
MiHale
(11,848 posts)👍
joshdawg
(2,828 posts)simply because they couldn't care less about Americans, including their minions, the maggots.....er, MAGATS. same difference
Akakoji
(353 posts)This is important.
usaf-vet
(7,582 posts)Yes, I'm yelling, but shouldn't we all be yelling?
maxsolomon
(36,784 posts)Neither did the Repukes when Dems passed them under Biden. We won't stop the 2nd one either.
Yell all you want, but only the Parliamentarian can limit the egregiousness. An infinity of phone calls to GQP Senators does nothing.
usaf-vet
(7,582 posts)Dem4life1970
(924 posts)The big UGLY bill. I have never and will never use Trump's word "beautiful" about this bill. Messaging matters. It is UGLY. Please always refer to it as Ugly. Thank you. 😊
TBF
(35,151 posts)He's about Bernie's age and has no fucks left to give.
Dem4life1970
(924 posts)....lied about the Iran Bombing Damage Assessment, and is approaching how many thousands of lies, is now saying "Just trust me and pass" the big ugly bill?
His minions in the congress will do what he says or find themselves in Thom Tillis's position, but even MAGAs need to come out against it.
These lawmakers want their seats more than they want to follow Trump, so they need to know that if they vote for this garbage, many of them will be voting themselves out of a job. They are so afraid of a primary, but a blue wave is coming in 2026.
The liar said he will "fix" voting, but since he lies about everything, do they really believe him?
He is the lamest of lame duck "Presidents"....
et tu
(2,293 posts)some extreme rw's will finally
know what's in the bill if it is read
to them! 'see spot run, see grammy
thrown out of the nursing home' etc.
see 'we all get used to it'. not
Texin
(2,748 posts)every single 'average' person in this country. Until they lose their healthcare, their homes their jobs, and watch as their mother or father, brother or sister, friend or neighbor face the same consequences, they won't give a shit. It's all about all those "other people".
BumRushDaShow
(155,467 posts)by holding up "legislative business" on the Senate floor (similar to how Corey Booker "held up business" with his 25+ hour marathon speech), since they are trying to ram it through.
snot
(11,149 posts)...I'd be interested in seeing a list of the Dems participating in this action.
BumRushDaShow
(155,467 posts)PBS is streaming (edit - they started a new stream)
MichMan
(15,304 posts)I didn't watch any of it, but I think they made clerks do it.